Coin-actuated mechanism.



E. s. HAGEN.

GOIN AGTUATED MEGHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED 00T. 29, 19o?.

, 9584,489n Patented May 17,1910.

2 SHEETS--SHBET 1.

f5 Mln W11.

E. S. HAGEN. com AGTUATED MEGHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED 00T. 29, 1907.

958,489c Patented May 1 7, 1910.

2 BHBETSfSHBET 2.

ANDREW E. uRAwAM co. lv fovUnmGRAPnEns, WASMNGION, o. t; K

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERIK S. HAGEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TOGLOBE VENDING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

COIN-ACTUATED MECHANISM.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERIK S. HAGEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Lmprovements in Coin-Actuated Mechanism,of which the following is a specification.

rThe mechanism of the present invention is intended for the dischargingof packages of gtnn or other similar articles of the kind ordinarilysold in vending machines.

The mechanism is of the plunger actuated variety, and the objects of theinvention are to economize space to the greatest possible extent, and tosimplify, and thereby cheapen the construction of the dischargingmechanism.

A further object of the invention is to provide for a sudden and abruptdischarge of the coin from its engaging position, and thereafter have arelease of the mechanism, allowing its return to normal position.

Another object of the invention is to provide a discharge chute whichwill likewise serve as a mounting or support for the releasing anddischarging mechanism which simplifies the structure and rendersitcompact and symmetrical.

The invention consists in the features of construction and combinationof parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the lower end of avending machine, showing the discharging mechanism in elevation; Fig. 2a cross sectional view of the base of a vending machine, showing thedischarging mechanism in plan; Fig. 3 a side elevation of thedischarging mechanism in released position; Fig. f1 a longitudinalsectional elevation of the discharging mechanism; Fig. 5 a sideelevation, showing the side opposite to that illustrated in Fig. 3; FiO.6 a rear elevation of the same; and Fig. a sectional plan view taken online 7-7 of Fig. 5.

The mechanism is shown in connection with a vending machine having acylindrical base chamber 8 comprising a side wall 9 and a oor 10. Thefloor has in its center a socket 11 adapted to receive the end of avertical post 12 around which the package carrier 13 is adapted torevolve. The package carrier, which forms no part of the presentinvention, is, in the present instance, of

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application tiled October 29, 1907.

Patented May 17, 1910.

Serial No. 399,704.

the rcvoluble sort, comprising a plurality of chambers or receptacles 14adapted to receive goods of different character, the several chambersbeing open at their lower ends for the discharge of goods, and beingconnected with a hub 15 which revolves around the post as an axis.

The discharging mechanism, which forms the subject matter of the presentinvention, is mounted upon a centrally located discharge chute 16, whichis positioned to receive discharged packages, and comprises side plates17 suitably spaced to provide a chute for the passage of the packages.The side plates are of similar formation, each having an elongated frontleg 18, .which rests upon the floor of the base chamber, near the frontside thereof, and a shortened rear leg 19, which is elevated above thefloor. The body 2O of the side plate has a level upper edge 20a, andterminates in a neck 21, theV rear edge of which occupies a position insubstantial alinement with the center post or shaft. The space betweenthe side plates is bridged by a sloping cross wall 22, which terminatesat its upper end in a forwardly curved portion 23, and at its lower endin a forwardly extending shelf 24, which projects outwardly from thevending machine and is adapted to deliver the goods to the purchaser.The cross wall 22 bridges the space between the elongated front legs ofthe side plates and substantially conforms to the slope of the sideplates, the curved upper or receiving end 23 being extended above thenecks 21 of the side plates, and immediately behind the discharge end ofthe selected package carrier chute, as shown in Fig. 1. The slopingcross wall serves as a chute or conveyer, and the wall 22 issupplemented by a sloping roof 25, which leaves a mouth or opening 26for the reception of packages, as best shown in Fig. 4.

The depending rear legs 19 of the side platesv serve as a mounting for arock shaft 27, which is of suiiicient length to extend through themountings provided therefor, and the shaft is encircled by a coil spring28, the inner end 29 of which bears against a finger 30 which surroundsthe shaft and is rigidly secured thereto by means of a set screw 31, andthe outer end 32 of which bears against a yoke 33, the cross bar ofwhich is adapted to work up and down in the space between the front andrear legs of the side plates and beneath the floor plate or wall 22 ofthe chute, as best shown in F ig. 4. The cross bar of the yoketerminates in inwardly extending arms 34 and 35, each of which ispivotally mounted on the projecting ends of the shaft 2T and outside ofthe depending' rear legs of the side plates. The arm 34 terminates atits rear end in an outwardly turned flange 36 which, when the parts arein their initial or normal position, as shown in F ig. l, bears againstthe rear edg'e of an upwardly extending arm 87 which is rigidly securedto and movable with the rock shaft 27. The arm 3T, at its upper end, isprovided with a forwardly projecting neck 38, which neck is bent orturned to provide an outwardly projecting linger 39 having, at its outerextremity, an upwardly projecting inwardly turned end plate 40, betweenwhich and the neck 38 is a spring controlled swinging trap door 40a,provided with an inwardly projecting` trip linger 40". A set screw 42 isentered through the end plate and serves to regulate the space affordedfor the recept-ion of the coin, which intended to be caught and heldbetween the finger 39 and the trap door, which serve, in conjunctionwith the neck 38 and with the end plate 40, to provide a pocket for thereception of the coin. The neck, at the point of juncture with thelinger, is provided with a slot 4l which has entered therethrough a stud48 which outwardly eX- tends from a discharging arm 44, which isconnected by means of a cross bar 45 with a similar discharging arm 4Gon the opposite side of the discharging' mechanism. The two dischargingarms are loosely mounted upon the projecting ends of the rock shaft onopposite sides of the depending rear legs of the chute, and when theparts are in the initial or normal position the stud 43 will occupy aposition immediately below and in alinement with the front edge of theflange 42, so that a coin held within the pocket provided therefor, willsimultaneously bear against the stud and liange and serve to lock theloosely mounted discharging arms to the rock shaft by reason of the lockafforded by the coin which unites the discharging' arm with the rockingarm 86, so that a movement of the arm 87 will produce a correspondingmovement of the discharging arms when a coin is inserted into place.

The discharging arm 44 is further provided with a catch lug 47, which isadapted to cooperate with a latch linger 48, which linger is pivoted tothe side plate 2O by means of a screw 49, which allows the latch lingerto rise and fall, and the latch linger is connected and movable with areleasing bar 50, the lower end of which extends into the space betweenthe frontand rear legs and is adapted to be engaged by the cross bar ofthe yoke 33 when the latter has been raised to its eXtreme position,which movement serves to raise the releasing bar and with it the latchlinger, thereby releasing the stop lug 47 from engagement, as will morefully appear' hereafter. The rearward movement of the arm 37 anddischarging arm 44 is limited by a stop flange 5l which is connectedwith the rear edge of the neck 2l, and a similar stop flange 52, on theopposite side of the mechanism serves to limit the movement of the arm4G, which occupies the same relative position as the arm 44.

rlhe mechanism is actuated by means of a plunger 53, properly positionedto be operated by the purchaser, which plunger is pivoted to the upperend of an arm 54 which is p'ivoted on the rock shaft 9.7 and is rigidlysecured to the adjacent arm of the yoke 38 with which it is movable. Thearm 54 is provided with' a weight 56 at its forward end which serves tobring the parts back to normal position. The discharging arms 44 and 46have pivoted thereto, at their upper ends, a bracket 57, which co1nprises a front cross bar 58 and rearward arms 59, which latter arepivoted to the ends of the discharging arms. The cross bar 58 isprovided with upwardly extending lingers 59a which are adapted to engagethe lowermost package of a column of goods located in the selectedcompartment of the package carrier. Vhen the parts are in initial ornormal position, the arms of bars 59 rest upon the level edges of theside plates, and one of the arms is directly over the bar 60 providedwith slots Gl, through which are entered guide pins 62 which positionthe bar with respect to the side plate of the discharge chute. The barGO is provided, near its lower end, with an outwardly extending lingerG3, which is adapted to be engaged by a resilient linger G4 of springwire, which is connected to the arm of the yoke 38, and rises and fallstherewith when the arm 54 is thrown forward by the movement of theplunger. The coins are delivered to the pocket through a chute or runway65 which, however', forms no part of the present invention and need notbe described in detail.

In use, with the parts in normal position, as shown in Fig. l, the coinis deposited in the track or chute 65 and rolls down the chute and isdelivered into the pocket afforded by the outwardly extending linger 89,trap door 40a and the wall of theneck 38. Vithin this pocket the coin islightly held in position to bear against the lug 4l which extendsoutwardly from. the discharging arm 44. It will thus be seen that thecoin serves to lock together the actuating arm 37, which is rigidlysecured to the rock shaft 27, and the discharging arm 44, and partsconnected therewith, which are pivotally hinged or mounted on saidshaft, so that with the coin in place all of the parts above mentioned,are, in effect, rigidly secured to t-he shaft and movable therewith. Asthe plunger is driven inwardly, after the depositing of the coin, theyoke 33, which is connected with the weight arm 54, will be swung uponthe shaft 27 as an axis, and the shaft will be held stationary, duringthe swinging of the yoke, by reason of the lock afforded by the latch48, and this movement of the yoke, in opposition to the stationaryshaft, serves to tighten the coiled spring 28 by reason of theengagement of the yoke with the end 32 of the spring. The spring willthus be put under considerable tension, which increases until the crossbar of the yoke 38 is raised sufliciently to bear against and lift thereleasing bar 50, which raises the latch and releases the dischargingarm 44, the arm 37 and the discharging yoke 57, all of which parts areviolently thrown forward by the action of the spring. This inwardmovement of the parts causes the points or teeth 59 on the dischargingyoke 57 to engage with the lowermost package of the column of goods, andthe package thus engaged is suddenly pushed or forced inwardly andthrown into the mouth 26 of the discharge chute, from which it isdelivered to the purchaser.

After the discharge of the package, in the manner indicated, therearward movement of the actuating arm and the discharging arms issuddenly arrested by the stop lianges 51 and 52, against which the partsstrike as they are thrown backward by the action of the spring. Themovement thus violently arrested serves to thrust forward the tripfinger 40b which swings the trap door away from the finger 39, and thisopening of the trap door in conjunction with the abrupt jolt or jarserves to dislodge the coin from the pocket, as indicated by dottedlines in Fig. 3, and the coin is thrown out into the chamber in the baseof the vending machine. After the release of the coin, the parts will bereturned to normal position by the action of the weight 56 on theforward side of the arm 54, which return movement of the parts throwsback the teeth or points on the discharging yoke into position to engagethe next package of the column of goods.

In order that the teeth may not interfere with the rotary movement ofthe package carrier, the teeth normally lie below the level of thedischarge ends of the package chambers, as indicated in full lines inFig. l, lVhen the parts are in the initial or normal position thevertical bar 60 will lie in its lowermost position, but as the plungeris thrust inward and the weight 5G on the arm 54 is raised, theresilient nger 64 on the weighted arm will engage the lug 63 on theif'ertical bar and raise the bar and with it the discharging yoke out ofits normal or lowered position, into a position which brings the teethinto line with the lowermost package of the column of goods, so that asthe parts are released in the manner heretofore described, the teethwill be in position to drive out the lowermost package.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that the dischargingmechanism of the present invention is of extremely simple formation, thedischarge chute serving as a base or support for the actuatingmechanism, and this combining of the chute and the actuating mechanisminto one structure results in economy of space,and a resultingsimplicity of the device as a whole. The size and shape of the coinpocket is such that slugs 'or tokens, if any such should be allowed toroll down the coin chute without detection, will, in most cases, bedropped through the pocket or otherwise discarded. In like manner, iflead slugs, or slugs of other soft metal, by an accident should findtheir way into the pocket, they will be bent or twisted by the springtension brought to bear against them while acting as an interlockbetween the actuating and discharging arms. The violent release of theparts and the abrupt cessation of movement, serves to dislodge and throwout the coins of proper denomination after the delivery of the packageof goods to the purchaser. It will furthermore be noted that thedischarging yoke will be raised to discharging position and not actuateduntil the nal release of the discharging mechanism, which gives ampleopportunity for the bending and detection of a lead or other soft slugwhen subjected to the tension of the spring.

The invention is one which is adapted for use either with rotary packagecarriers, or stationary carriers, although it possesses distinctadvantages of use in connection with the former styles of vendingmachines.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In coin actuated mechanism, the combination of an actuating armprovided with a pocket adapted to receive and hold a coin, an abutment,and a spring adapted to throw the actuating arm into violent contactwith the abutment to dislodge the coin, substantially as described.

2. In coin actuated mechanism, the combination of an actuating armprovided with a pocket adapted to receive and hold a coin, dischargingmechanism adjacent to the actuating arm and adapted to be locked theretoby the insertion of a coin, a spring adapted to create a tension on theactuating arms, releasing mechanism adapted to be actuated at apredetermined time, and a stop or abutment for abruptly limiting themovement of the actuating arm, and thereby dislodging the coin,substantially as described.

3. In coin actuated mechanismythe combination of `arock shaft, anactuating arm lrigidly secured tothe shaft, discharging mechanismpivoted to the shaft, a spring adapted to exert a tension on the` shaft,lmeans for actuating the spring, a coin pocket on the actuating armadapted to enable lthe coin to lock fthe actuating arm with thedischarging mechanism, an abutment for limiting the movement of theparts, and releasing mechanism for releasing the parts from springtension, substantially as described.

et. In coin actuated-mechanism, the combination of a rock shaft, a yokejournaled :to

the rock shaft, discharging mechanism jour- Y and discharging mechanism,and releasing mechanism actuated by the movement of the yoke,substantially as described.

5. VIn coin actuated mechanism, the combi- .nation of a rock shaft, ayoke journaled to the rock shaft, discharging mechanism ournaled tothe'rook shaft, a spring connection between the yoke and the shaft forcreating .a tension on the Shaft by the movement of the yoke, a plungerfor moving vthe yoke, au actuating arm rigidly secured to the shaft,.acoin vpocket on the actuating arm adapted to return ka coin in positionto 'lock said arm with the discharging mechanism, an abutment :forlimiting the movement of the arm and discharging mechanism, and alocking latch adapted to engage the discharging mechanism and adapted tobe released by the movement of vthe yoke, substantially as described.

ERIK S. HAGEN. Vitnesses WALKER BANNING, LPinRsoN lV. Bar-Trium;l

